mUVBRSITYOF 

ILLINOIS  UBRARY 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

CPLA 


64th  Congress  [ 
1st  Stssion      \ 


SENATE 


DOCUMENI 

No.  350  . 


NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND 
LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED 

BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN  CIVIC  ASSOCIATION 
T^  AT   WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  ON 


\^<i  , 


DECEMBER  31,  1915 


^^17 


BY 


CYRUS  KEHR 


VS-'  '•!    ( 


A»^: 


PRESENTED  BY  MR.  SHIELDS 

January    13,    1916. — Referred  to  the  Committee  on  Printing 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFRCE 

1916 


REPORTED  BY  MR.  FLETCHER. 

In  the  Senate  or  the  United  States, 

March  9,  1916. 
Fesolved,  That  the  manuscript  submitted  by  the  Senator  from 
Tennessee  (Mr.  Shields)  on  January  13.  1916,  entitled  "A  National 
System  of  Highways  and  Landscape  Designing,"  being  an  address 
delivered  before  the  American  Civic  Association,  at  Washington. 
D.  C,  on  December  31,  1915,  by  Cyrus  Kehr,  of  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
be  printed  as  a  Senate  document. 

Attest : 

James  M.  Baker,  Secretary. 

2 


z 


^■ 


NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING. 


Delivered  before  American  Civic  Association  at  Washine:ton,  D.  C,  December  31,  1915,  by 
Cyrus  Kehr,  of  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

The  purpose  of  this  address  is  to  present  a  new  factor  in  hmd- 
scape  designing,  a  factor  which  should  receive  attention  prior  to 
and  as  a  basis  for  both  "  city  pLanning  "  and  "  country  planning." 

With  respect  to  utility,  this  factor  is  of  prime  and  extreme  im- 
portance for  both  national,  civil,  and  military  use. 

As  the  reach  of  this  new  factor  is  nation  wide,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  address  relates  to  "  nation  planning." 

A  city  plan  can  not  be  made  complete  without  the  previous  de- 
signing of  a  group  of  main  or  trunk-line  highways  leading  from 
surounding  cities  to  the  city  being  treated. 

The  factor  of  communication  in  a  city  plan  must  be  related  with 
communication  between  that  city  and  other  cities  and  towns  or 
major  centers  of  communication  so  geographically  located  as  to  make 
reciprocal  communication  from  one  to  the  other  desirable  or  im- 
perative. 

In  rural  planning  communication  is  also  a  prime  factor,  and  must 
be  treated  simultaneously  with  other  important  factors  and  devel- 
oped in  relation  with  main  lines  of  communication  leading  to  dis- 
tant places. 

The  national  system  of  highways  which  is  to  be  discussed  is  to 
provide  communication  between  such  major  centers.  Such  system 
is  to  comprise  the  laiger  or  dominating  highways  throughout  the 
Nation.  If  ideal  methods  are  to  be  pursued,  the  location  and  de- 
signing of  all  other  highways  must  be  subordinated  to  the  highways 
of  this  national  system,  and  the  latter  must  be  located  and  designed 
before  other  highways  can  be  located  and  designed. 

INCREASE   IN    RANGE    OF    COMMUNICATION. 

The  recent  development  of  self-propelled  vehicles  adapted  to 
travel  faster  than  is  possible  with  animal-drawn  vehicles  has  made 
an  increased  demand  for  communication  which  is  not  relatively 
local  but  wdiich  connects  towns  and  cities  and  other  communication 
centers  separated  from  each  other  100  or  200  or  more  miles.  In 
other  words,  it  may  be  said  that  heretofore  units  of  highway  com- 
munication did  not  exceed  courses  extending  from  a  county  seat  or 
other  center  in  one  county  to  a  similar  center  in  an  adjoining 
county,  Avhile  now  such  units  of  communication  extend  from  a 
principal  center  in  one  State  to  another  principal  center  in  a  distant 
part  of  the  same  State  or  in  an  adjoining  State.  In  lieu  of  what 
may  be  termed  State  communication,  there  is  now  a  demand  for 
,  ^  national   communication.     Effort  should  be  made  to  so  work  out 

^  12405—16  3 


4  NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING. 

this  problem  of  national  communication  as  to  afford  the  most  direct 
and  convenient  communication  between  neighboring  major  centers. 

P'rom  the  foregoing  it  becomes  apparent  that  in  civic  improve- 
ment we  must  make  room  for  a  new  branch  of  landscape  designing, 
such  branch  comprising  the  location  and  designing  of  a  national 
or  Nation-wide  system  of  highways  affording  such  convenient  and 
direct  communication  between  all  major  centers  throughout  the 
Nation. 

In  this  national  system  every  highway  extending  from  one  major 
center  to  another  should  be  regarded  as  complete  in  itself  and  as 
constituting  a  main  or  trunk  line  highway  unit ;  and  every  such 
unit  should  bear  its  own  distinctjve  name  and  be  otherwise  treated 
independently  of  other  units.  The  name  of  every  unit  may  be  com- 
posed of  the  names  of  its  two  major  centers,  as,  for  example,  Co- 
lumbus-Indianapolis Highway  may  designate  the  unit  connecting 
Columbus,  Ohio,  and  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

The  forming  of  this  national  plan  will  be,  in  a  geographical 
sense,  a  large  undertaking.  But  the  principles  involved  do  not  differ 
essentially  from  the  principles  which  must  be  recognized  in  working 
out  a  city  or  county  or  district  plan. 

HIGHWAY    UNITS    SERVE    THROUGH    AND    LOCAL    TRAFFIC. 

At  the  outset,  this  one  fact  must  be  recognized,  namely,  that  these 
trunk-line  highway  units  will  constitute  lines  of  through  communi- 
cation between  the  centers  which  they  connect  and  will  also  perform 
a  very  imjDortant  part  in  local  communication.  In  many  local  areas, 
these  trunk-line  highAvays,  if  they  are  proj^erly  located  and  designed 
and  suitably  connected  with  subordinate  highways,  will  carry  one- 
half,  and  in  other  localities  as  much  as  eight-tenths  of  the  local 
traffic.  The  latter  would  usually  be  the  case  with  portions  of  the 
trunk-line  units  which  approach  and  enter  their  centers.  At  some 
such  centers  a  half  dozen  units  will  enter,  and  for  some  distance  out 
from  the  center  they  will  lie  near  enough  to  each  other  to  receive 
all  local  traffic  to  and  from  the  center,  either  directly  or  after  going 
short  distances  over  auxiliary  highways. 

It  is  probable  that  at  least  three- fourths  of  all  the  highway  traffic 
in  the  United  States,  outside  of  cities,  can  be  put  upon  such  a 
national  system  of  highway  units,  while  the  remaining  one-fourth  of 
such  traffic  is  scattered  over  a  considerable  mileage  of  auxiliary 
roads.  The  fact  that  these  trunk-line  units  will  carry  large  volumes 
of  traffic  makes  it  not  only  permissible  but  imperative  to  Avork  out 
for  every  such  unit  the  best  possible  location  and  grades  and  to  put 
into  it  ample  and  substantial  construction. 

LOCATING   MAJOR  CENTERS, 

The  first  step  toward  making  this  Nation  plan  must  be  to  deter- 
mine the  major  centers  or  focal  points  Avhich  are  to  be  connected 
by  means  of  trunk-line  highway  units.  These  centers  must  be 
selected  Avith  reference  to  present  and  prospective  population  and 
commerce  and  industrial  development.  JNIilitary  considerations 
should  also  be  taken  into  account,  Avith  a  vieAv  to  producing  routes 
and  centers  for  easy  militaiT  movement  and  concentration.  When 
choice  for  a  center  must  be  made  betAveen  tAvo  places,  preference 
should  be  given  to  the  place  Avhich  Avill  best  sei-A'e  to  group  units. 


NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  \ND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING.  5 

DESIGNING  TRUNK-LINE   UNITS. 

Each  tnmk-line  unit  must  be  so  located  and  designed  as  to  im- 
part to  it  the  greatest  degree  of  continuity  and  directness.  It  is  not 
meant  by  this  that  such'unit  must  run  in  straight  lines.  Straight 
lines  are  frequently  undesirable  and  positively  objectionable.  What 
is  meant  is  that  the  course  should  be  free  from  oifsets  and  sharp 
angles  and  such  short  curves  as  will  destroy  the  mental  impression 
of  continuity  and  as  will  make  it  difficult  for  the  traveler  to  tell 
whether  he  is  keeping  the  proper  course  at  points  where  branch 
roads  join  the  trunk  line.  The  trunk-line  unit  should  be  so  located 
and  treated  as  to  make  it  substantially  unnecessary  for  the  traveler 
to  consult  guide  books  or  people  while  traversing  the  route.  This 
might  be  accomplished  in  part  by  using  a  right  of  way  and  a  roadbed 
wider  than  is  given  to  other  roads. 

But  while,  as  above  stated,  straight  lines  are  frequently  undesirable 
and  positively  objectionable,  there  should,  nevertheless,  be  no  varia- 
tion from  a  straight  line  unless  reason  therefor  will  be  apparent  to 
the  traveler.  Wherever  a  straight  course  would  preclude  low  grades 
or  necessitate  inexcusable  cuts  or  fills  there  is  ample  reason  for  mak- 
ing curves;  but  such  curves  should  be  on  as  long  radii  as  possible. 
A  short  curve  should  be  used  only  when  it  is  clearly  impractical  to 
use  a  long  one.  In  such  case  the  reason  for  the  short  curve  is  usually 
apparent  to  the  traveler.  Only  obtuse  angles  are  permissible,  and 
an}^  angle  approaching  or  exceeding  a  right  angle  and  any  offset 
should  be  regarded  as  out  of  the  question;  and  wherever  possible  a 
curve  should  be  used  instead  of  even  an  obtuse  angle. 

As  an  example  of  continuity,  reference  is  made  to  the  old  National 
Highway  constructed  from  east  to  west  across  the  State  of  Ohio,  the 
location  having  been  made  during  the  years  1825  and  1826.  The  act 
called  for  a  straight  line  80  feet  wide,  and  this  survey  was  so  early 
in  point  of  time  that  villages  and  towns  afterwards  grew  along  the 
highway,  the  latter  forming  a  principal  and  direct  street.  This  con- 
tinuity or  directness  remains,  although  the  highway  went  through 
periods  of  neglect  and  finally  passed  into  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
State.  But  if  a  traveler  makes  a  tour  eastward  or  westward  across 
the  northern  portion  of  that  State  he  finds  a  total  absence  of  con- 
tinuity of  the  course.  The  entire  route  is  composed  of  local  roads 
differing  in  character  and  joined  to  each  other  by  angles  and  offsets, 
so  that  the  traveler  must  constantly  make  inquiry  to  keep  to  the 
course. 

Clearly,  such  a  course  is  comj^osed  of  a  large  number  of  highway 
fragments  and  can  not  be  called  a  highway. 

When  the  trunk  line  has  been  located  by  observing  the  limitations 
mentioned,  an  important  condition  will  have  been  met,  namely,  giv- 
ing to  tlie  traveler  going  over  the  unit  from  one  of  its  centers  the 
mental  impression  that  he  is  not  required  to  traverse  unnecessary 
distance. 

LOW  GRADES. 

Another  factor  in  cverv  trunk-line  unit  should  be  what  are  now 
regarded  as  low  grades.  The  maximum  grade  should  be  2^  per  cent. 
Under  the  present  stage  of  highway  practice  in  this  country  that 
will  appear  to  be  a  low  maximum."  It  will  be  so  by  contra.st,  for 


6  NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING. 

there  are  still  many  highway  builders  who  regard  5  and  6  per  cent 
as  ordinary  grades,  and  7,  8,  9,  and  10  per  cent  as  permissible.  But 
2|  per  cent  is,  in  fact,  not  a  low  grade.  In  railroad  work  2^  per  cent 
is  now  excessive  and  impossible  for  trunk  lines.  It  is  only  per- 
missible in  branches.  In  the  earlier  days  of  railroading,  grades  of 
2,  3,  and  4  per  cent  were  thought  permissible  on  trunlv  lines.  But 
now  it  is  considered  almost  imperative  to  keep  within  1  per  cent  and 
very  desirable  to  keep  within  one-half  of  1  per  cent.  Of  course. 
it  is  phj^sically  possible  to  operate  trains  over  steeper  grades,  but  the 
managements  of  railways  endeavor  to  operate  on  business  lines,  and 
they  have  found  that  steep  grades  make  operation  expensive.  There 
is  economy  in  operating  trains  over  low  grades.  This  is  a  matter 
of  dollars  and  cents,  or,  we  may  say,  hundreds  of  thousands  and 
millions  of  dollars.  It  is  economy  to  have  one  crew  and  its  one 
engine  haul  the  largest  possible  tonnage  in  a  train,  or  to  make  the 
steam  from  a  ton  of  coal  haul  the  largest  possible  number  of  tons. 
There  are  railroads  upon  which  freight  trains  are  made  up  to  be 
hauled  by  one  engine  on  grades  ranging  as  high  as  1  per  cent  and 
helping  engines  are  needed  to  go  over  places  having  an  addition  of 
only  one-fourth  of  1  per  cent  to  the  grade.  Railroad  companies  have 
learned  that  there  is  economy  in  expending  hundreds  of  thousands 
and  even  millions  of  dollars  to  make  what  might  popularly  be 
regarded  as  an  unimportant  ^rade  reduction. 

It  remains  for  highway  designers  and  builders  and  users  to  learn 
what  railroad  men  have  learned  in  this  respect.  The  cost  of  hauling 
a  ten  of  freight  on  a  highway  is  an  economic  matter  just  as  much  as 
it  is  to  haul  a  ton  of  freight  on  a  railroad.  Freight  and  passengers 
should  be  moved  on  highways  at  the  lowest  possible  cost.  Generally 
speaking,  a  load  which  a  team  can  haul  on  a  level  road  must  be  di- 
vided for  hauling  up  a  5  per  cent  grade.  There  is  also  economy  in 
low  grades  for  the  movement  of  an  empty  vehicle.  If  a  loaded 
vehicle  goes  one  way  over  a  low  grade  road,  it  can  return  emptv  in 
much  less  time  than  would  be  required  if  the  road  had  steep  grades. 

PENALTY    OR   TOLL   FOR    STEEP    GRADES. 

The  cost  of  maintaining  and  operating  an  animal-drawn  or  a 
motor-driven  vehicle  for  hauling  freight  on  highways  or  streets  aver- 
ages as  high  as  $3  per  day.  Steep  grades  may  easily  reduce  the 
total  efficiency  of  such  a  vehicle  by  one-half,  counting  the  amount 
hauled  per  load,  speed  with  and  without  the  load,  and  durability  of 
the  equipment.  Assuming  that  on  a  given  trunk-line  highway  unit 
5.000  vehicles  operate  per  day  and  that  their  efficiency  is  thus  re- 
duced only  one-third  (instead  of  one-half),  the  total  toll  or  penalty 
paid  each  day  for  the  grades  is  $5,000.  and  for  300  w^orking  davs  of 
the  year  $1,500,000.  which  equals  interest  at  5  per  cent  on  $30^.000,000. 
This  for  only  1  unit. 

Economy  not  only  justifies  but  demands  the  low  grades. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  facts,  there  are  intelligent  men  who 
argue  that  grades  ranging  as  high  as  5  per  cent  and  even  more  are 
not  only  permissible  but  desirable  for  travel  or  hauling  by  both 
classes  of  vehicles.  Yet  those  men  must  admit  that  while  ascending 
such  grades  the  engines  of  automobiles  and  auto  trucks  consume 
excessive  quantities  of  fuel  and  become  heated,  and  we  must  assume 


NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HlUllWAVS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING.  T 

that  if  horses  and  mules  could  speak  they  would  express  a  prefer- 
ence for  a  level  course  skirting  along  a  hillside  rather  than  for  a 
course  going  over  the  hill.  Furthermore,  going  down  a  steep  grade 
with  any  vehicle  is  costly. 

It  is  generally  thought  to  be  out  of  the  question  to  provide  low- 
grade  highways  in  hilly  or  mountainous  regions.  But  the  contrary- 
is  the  case.  A  study  of  this  question  reveals  the  fact  that  in  such 
regions  many  of  the  steep  roads  are  made  so  by  obstinately  locating 
them  up  one  side  of  a  hill  and  down  the  other  side,  or  up  one  end  of 
a  ridge  and  along  the  backbone  and  then  down  the  other  end,  wdien». 
m  each  case,  a  level  or  nearly  level  hillside  or  valley  course  is  at 
hand.  In  some  cases  these  level  or  low-grade  courses  are  readily 
apparent,  but  in  other  cases  they  can  be  found  only  by  careful  study 
by  persons  having  suitable  ability,  a  peculiar  creative  skill  resern- 
biing  the  skill  of  the  sculptor.  Men  of  similar  ability  specialize  in 
railwa}^  location,  some  having  the  pioneer  instinct* to  such  extent  as 
to  regard  construction  distasteful  drudgery. 

Many  mountain  places  thought  to  be  hopelessly  isolated  may  be 
connected  with  the  outside  world  by  level  or  low-grade  highw^ays, 
and  mountain  ranges  may  be  crossed  in  this  way  at  places  where  it 
has  been  supposed  that  they  can  be  traversed  only  at  distant  gaps  or 
passes.  The  writer  has  traced  a  route  for  a  trunk-line  highway 
across  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  all  of  which  may  be  constructed 
within  2  per  cent  grade,  while  it  had  been  supposed  that  the  best 
passage  feasible  across  those  mountains  must  be  by  a  highway  many 
miles  distant  and  having  grades  ranging  from  5  to  10  per  cent. 

Among  hills  and  mountains  it  is  easier  to  provide  low  grades  for 
a  highway  than  for  a  railway,  for  the  highway  permits  more  and 
shorter  curves. 

CHOOSING  COURSE  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  AUXILIARY  HIGHWAYS. 

When  along  any  portion  of  the  trunk-line  unit  there  is  oppor- 
tunity to  choose  between  two  courses,  preference  should  be  given  to 
the  course  to  which  local  lines  of  communication  may  best  be  con- 
nected if  there  is  difference  in  this  respect. 

ADOPTING    LOCAL    HIGHWAYS. 

When  we  approach  the  task  of  connecting  centers  with  a  trunk- 
line  highway  unit,  we  shall  at  once  be  met  with  the  suggestion  and 
temptation  to  adopt  and  use  such  local  highways  as  we  find  between 
said  two  centers.  But  there  is  grave  danger  in  such  suggestion  and 
temptation.  When  such  local  roads  have  excessive  grades  and  are- 
on  courses  not  adapted  to  the  trunk-line  unit,  such  local  roads  should 
be  ignored.  Reference  might  be  made  to  such  a  unit  having  a  length 
of  more  than  100  miles  and  80  or  90  per  cent  of  new  location.  But 
nearly  all  the  old  roads  adjacent  that  trunk  line  will  still  be  re- 
quired for  local  traffic,  so  that  there  need  be  only  small  loss  in  this 
respect. 

YIELDING    TO    LOCAL    INTERESTS, 

In  determining  the  location  of  a  trunk-line  unit,  local  interests 
should  be  given  consideration  in  only  a  subordinate  way.  Pri- 
marily, the  route  should  be  regarded  as  a  means  for  relatively  long- 


8  NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING. 

distance  travel.  Requests  and  petitions  from  individuals  and  dele- 
gations that  the  route  be  diverted  here  and  there  to  adapt  it  to 
private  interests  should  be  ignored. 

DIVERTING  COURSE  TO  REACH  HISTORIC  PLACES. 

On  account  of  sentiment  there  is  strong  temptation  to  locate  high- 
ways to  reach  historic  places.  But  these  trunk-line  highway  units 
should  not  be  diverted  for  such  purpose  at  a  sacrifice  of  grades  and 
directness.     Usually  such  places  should  be  reached  by  branch  lines. 

COMBINING    BEAUTY    WITH    UTILITY. 

While  in  the  location  of  such  a  trunk-line  unit  utility  must 
control  and  easv  hauling  for  freight  and  easy  going  for  the  trav- 
eler must  be  given  first  consideration,  yet  everything  consistent 
with  utility  should  be  done  to  make  the  course  attractive,  pleasing, 
and  inspiring  to  all  who  traverse  the  road.  This  should  be  recog- 
nized Avhile  working  out  location,  and  after  the  location  has  been 
completed  construction  and  future  treatment  should  be  prosecuted 
with  the  same  purpose  in  view\ 

In  connection  with  location  there  is  here  an  opportunity  for  land- 
scape designing  on  a  large  scale.  All  the  way  along  the  course  it 
should  be  sought  to  present  unexpected  and  emphatic  changes  in 
landscape  views.  It  should  be  sought  to  present  the  largest  number 
of  the  best  possible  landscape  pictures,  so  that  traversing  the  road 
will,  in  this  respect,  be  superior  to  visiting  an  art  gallery.  Some 
of  these  pictures  should  be  at  short  range,  while  others  cover  ample 
distances,  and  in  others  there  should  be  an  emphasis  of  height  or 
df>pth. 

In  many  places  proper  grade  and  distance  can  be  had  by  adopting 
either  of  two  locations,  one  presenting  ordinary  scenery  and  the 
other  some  splendid  picture.     The  latter  should  be  chosen. 

As  is  the  case  with  streets  in  city  planning,  so,  in  locating  such 
a  trunk-line  high^vay  unit,  it  should  be  sought  to  bring  different 
stages  of  the  road  into  alignment  Avith  objectives.  These  may  be  a  hill 
or  a  mountain,  a  building  or  a  group  of  buildings,  a  tree  or  a  group 
of  trees,  or  a  gap  between  hills  or  mountains. 

In  nearly  all  portions  of  the  United  States  nature  has  lavishly 
provided  material  for  this  kind  of  designing.  If  this  opportunity 
is  properly  appreciated,  splendid  results  constituting  immense  assets 
for  our  country  will  follow.  Failure  in  this  respect  will  involve  an 
enormous  aggregate  loss. 

Both  for  utility  and  dignity,  the  right  of  way  of  the  highway 
unit  should  be  at  least  100  feet  Avide.  in  order  that  at  present  and  m 
the  future  there  mav  be  room  for  a  roadway  of  ample  width  for  easy 
travel  in  both  directions  and  in  order  that  cuts  and  fills  may  be 
freely  treated  without  interfering  Avith  adjacent  private  lands  and 
in  order  that  there  may  be  spaces  at  the  sides  of  the  roadway  to  be 
occupied  by  trees,  shrubs,  vines,  and  grass.  Wherever  there  are 
spaces  suitable  for  this  purpose,  trees,  shrubs  and  vines  already  on 
the  right  of  way  should  be  protected,  and  there  should  be  addi- 
tional'^planting.  care  being  exercised  to  select  species  best  suited  to 


NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING.  9 

utility  and  art.  In  this  way  these  highway  units  may  be  made 
practical  lessons  in  forestry  conservation  and  in  beautification.  This 
feature  may  be  augmented  by  adding  to  the  right  of  way  small 
pieces  or  fragments  of  land  which  have  special  beauty  on  accoimt  of 
topography,  water,  and  plant  growth.  Along  the  courses  of  these 
highways  there  may  be  many  such  fragments  of  land  having  a 
small  stream,  spring,  or  rocks,  cliffs,  trees,  shrubs,  and  vines,  consti- 
tuting a  case  in  Avhich  natural  beauty  is  the  predominating  feature, 
and  utility  in  the  ordinary  sense  is  nearly  or  altogether  lacking.  On 
account  of  such  quality  these  places  may  be  made  very  desirable  ad- 
juncts to  such  highways. 

CONDUITS   FOR   ELECTRIC   WIRES. 

Conduits  for  electric  Avires  placed  in  every  highway  unit  will 
form  a  national  system  of  such  conduits,  providing  for  a  national 
system  of  underground  telegraph  and  telephone  wires,  the  highways 
being  without  poles  excepting  for  lighting. 

RESTING  AND  CAMPING  PLACES. 

As  further  adjuncts  to  these  highways  there  must  be  places  for 
resting  and  camping — places  on  which  tourists  may  procure  water 
and  rest  for  a  half  hour  or  an  hour  or  camp  for  a  night  or  longer. 
The  ordinary  highway  affords  no  such  places.  Usually  the  traveler 
may  now  stop  and  rest  or  camp  only  by  encroaching  or  trespassing 
upon  private  lands.  There  are  already  regions  where  few  such  pri- 
vate places  can  be  found,  and  owners  will  gradually  exclude  the 
public  from  their  lands.  Before  lands  become  more  valuable  and 
before  places  suited  to  this  purpose  are  denuded  of  trees  and  other- 
wise spoiled  for  this  purpose,  such  places  should,  as  far  as  possible, 
be  acquired  for  the  public.  These  places  should  be  for  the  use  of 
those  who  travel  for  pleasure  or  business  and  for  those  who  haul 
farm  products,  merchandise,  or  other  freight. 

In  some  instances  these  rest  or  camp  places  may  be  added  at  one 
side  or  the  other  of  the  100-foot  right  of  way,  and  in  other  instances 
they  may  be  put  into  the  middle  of  the  right  of  way,  the  roadway 
being  divided  and  extended  along  both  sides  of  the  rest  or  camp 
place  and  the  right  of  Avay  being  correspondingly  widened. 

Recently  in  the  city  of  Ashland,  Oreg.,  in  a  public  park,  camp 
lots  were  marked  by  suitable  boundaries  and  the  free  use  of  these, 
including  water  and  lights,  granted  to  automobile  tourists  bringing 
their  own  tents. 

LOCATING  AND  PLANNING  AUXILIARY  HIGHWAYS. 

When  any  trunk-line  unit  has  been  located  and  designed,  the  plan 
therefor  may  be  made  the  basis  for  locating  and  planning  auxiliary 
highways  leading  to  and  properly  connecting  with  tlie  trunk-line 
unit  and  connecting  minor  centers  in  the  same  manner  as  tiie  trunk- 
line  unit  connects  major  centers.  In  the  designing  and  ])lanning 
of  these  auxiliary  highways,  substantially  the  same  principles  should 
be  followed  as  controlled  in  the  location  and  designing  of  the  trunk- 
line  unit.    Then  still  less  important  local  higliAvaiys  may  be  planned 


10  NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING. 

and  connected  with  the  trunk-line  unit  or  the  near-by  auxiliary  high- 
ways. In  this  manner  the  planning  may  be  developed  until  the  least 
important  local  roads  are  reached.  At  each  stage  of  this  development 
new  opportunity  is  given  for  features  of  landscape  designing  in 
both  direct  and  "indirect  association  with  the  highways.  And  it  will 
now  be  seen  that  all  through  this  development  the  treatment  of  cer- 
tain features  of  designing  must  await  the  treatment  of  some  other 
feature;  that  practically  all  features  which  are  not  highways  or 
directly  associated  with  highways  should  await  the  location  and  de- 
signing of  the  highways  and  that  the  designing  of  the  highways 
should  be  progressive,  beginning  with  the  trunk-line  units.  As  soon 
as  the  trunk-line  units  in  any  given  section  of  the  country  have  been 
designed  the  designing  of  auxiliary  and  other  roads  in  that  section 
may  be  undertaken  without  waiting  for  the  designing  of  all  the 
trunk-line  units  throughout  the  United  States;  and  even  the  con- 
struction of  the  auxiliary  and  local  highways  may  be  undertaken 
and  completed  before  the  plan  for  near-by  trunk-line  units  has 
been  executed. 

SYSTEM  or  UNITS  AFFORDS  NATIONAL  COMMUNICATION. 

When  all  these  trunk-line  units  have  been  planned  and  built 
throughout  the  United  States,  the  people  of  practically  every  con- 
gressional district  in  the  Nation  will  have  easy  highway  communi- 
cation with  practically  all  other  portions  of  the  United  States;  and 
any  person  desiring  to  make  a  long  journey  by  highway  can  do  so 
over  an  ideal  highway  either  from  his  own  door  or  after  traveling 
only  a  short  distance  over  an  auxiliary  highway,  and  practically 
every  locality  in  the  entire  United  States  will  have  the  benefit  of 
travel  from  all  other  portions  of  the  United  States. 

While,  as  already  stated,  every  unit  of  the  national  system  will 
bear  its  own  name,  consisting,  preferably,  of  the  names  of  the  two 
major  centers  connected  by  said  unit,  any  group  of  units  arranged  in 
series  may  be  designated  as  a  "  route  "  connecting  the  major  centers 
located  at  opposite  ends  of  said  group.  For  example,  "  Washington- 
Atlanta  Route "  may  designate,  collectivelj^,  the  connecting  trunk- 
line  highway  units  forming  the  most  direct  course  between  AVashing- 
ton,  D.  C,  and  Atlanta. 

LONG-DISTANCE     SINGLE    HIGHAVAYS    UNDESIRABLE. 

Only  such  a  national  system  composed  of  highway  units  will 
serve  and  be  fair  to  all  portions  of  the  country,  and  such  a  system 
will  render  long-distance  single-highway  projects  unnecessary.  Such 
single  projects  are  nonaltruistic,  in  that  they  aim  to  procure  ad- 
vantages to  certain  localities  to  the  exclusion  of  other  localities,  and 
they  are  disappointing  because  the  launching  of  every  such  project 
is  followed  by  other  similar  projects  leading  through  disappointed 
localities,  or  the  single  highway  project  is  made  to  evolve  or  expand 
ipto  a  project  for  a  system  composed  of  units  resembling  those  here 
suggested,  in  order  to  satisfy  and  obtain  the  cooperation  of  more 
people.  Nearly  every  long-distance  project  has  been  thus  expanded 
or  amplified,  and  in  some  cases  portions  of  these  projects  overlap  two, 


NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING.  11 

three,  and  four  times.  Thus  exclusiveness,  individuality,  and  identity 
of  these  projects  are  lost. 

Nearly  every  such  project  has  had  its  origin  with  some  interested 
town,  city,  person,  or  business  interest,  and  many  have  been  the  un- 
seemly scrambles  and  contests  for  the  location  of  such  portions  of 
such  projects  as  were  not  fixed  by  the  originators.  Large  numbers 
of  people  have  traveled  long  distances  and  participated  in  prolonged 
and  intense  meetings  with  a  view  to  winning  what  they  deemed  an 
important  prize. 

There  is  decided  mutuality  in  this  matter.  It  is  to  the  interest 
of  the  people  in  any  locality  to  have  good  communication  provided 
for  every  other  locality  in  the  Nation.  It  is  to  the  advantage  of  the 
people  of  every  locality  to  have  means  of  communication  with  every 
other  locality  in  the  Nation — for  easy  travel  to  every  locality  in  the 
Nation  and  from  every  locality  in  the  Nation.  _  In  this  case  the  ad- 
vantageous availing  kind  of  selfishness  is  altruism. 

If  the  development  of  highways  extending  throughout  the  Nation 
is  left  to  local,  disconnected,  and  interested  initiative,  the  various 
projects  will  eventually,  in  a  crude  and  wasteful  way,  approach  a 
national  system  of  highways  resembling  the  system  which  I  have 
suggested,  just  as  a  city  which  has  grown  from  year  to  year  through 
individual,  interested,  and  disconnected  initiative,  in  a  general  and 
crude  way,  approaches  what  that  city  should  be.  A  city  can  be 
most  economically  planned  while  it  is  still  in  a  formative  state. 
Our  Nation  can  be  most  economically  and  most  successfully  planned, 
if  the  task  is  undertaken  and  vigorously  prosecuted  before  local 
and  unrelated  efforts  proceed  further. 

INTEREST    or    GOVERNMENT    IN     NATIONAL    HIGHWAY    SYSTEM. 

Our  National  Government  has  a  large  interest  in  this  matter  of 
creating  a  national  system  of  highways.  On  account  of  the  post 
service,  interstate  commerce,  irrigation  projects,  forest  reserves,  and 
national  parks  the  interest  of  the  Federal  Government  will  be  served 
by  such  a  system  of  highways.  Furthermore,  no  national  military 
system  can  be  complete  without  such  a  highway  system.  No  pro- 
gram of  "  preparedness  "  for  national  defense  will  be  complete  un- 
less it  comprises  a  system  of  trunk-line  highways  adapted  to  rapid 
and  easy  movement  and  concentration  of  armies,  army  equipments, 
and  supplies.  The  highway  system  which  I  have  suggested  can  be 
adapted  to  meet  military  as"  well  as  civil  requirements.  In  the 
execution  of  the  plan  for  such  a  system,  preference  should  be  given 
to  such  units  as  will  most  probably  be  needed  in  military  emergency. 
Recently  it  has  been  proposed  to  provide  heavy,  mobile  coast-defense 
artillery  adapted  to  be  taken  from  place  to  place  along  the  coasts. 
If  that  is  to  be  done  trunk-line  highway  units  should  be  adapted 
as  far  as  may  be  to  that  purpose  and  their  construction  begun.  In 
other  portions  of  the  country  other  military  considerations  will 
probably  call  for  the  location  and  early  construction  of  other  such 
units. 

No  more  important  national  public  work  for  civil  use  can  be 
undertaken.  There  can  be  no  more  important  factor  in  "  military 
preparedness."    If  this  is  made  part  of  our  national  military  pro- 


12         NATIONAL  SYSTEM  OF  HIGHWAYS  AND  LANDSCAPE  DESIGNING. 

gram,  there  will  be  no  loss  even  if  war  does  not  come.    Xot  so  with 

battk'sliii)s.  ^      ,      -,  ^  •      o 

And  is  not  this  an  amply  larpre  task  for  landscape  desiG^nms:? 
Since,  even  in  its  civil  relations,  this  national  system  of  hi^rhways 
will  be  national  in  character  and  importance,  it  should  be  regarded 
as  a  system  of  national  highways  and  constructed  and  maintained 

as  such  by  the  National  Government. 

» 

o 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  002290507 


